T

he Jakarta City Council has urged the city administration to pay attention to the expenditure of the 2016 budget, worth Rp 66.37 trillion (US$4.77 billion), after the last two years saw lower-than-targeted spending.

Council member Rikardo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said during a general viewing of the 2016 draft city budget by the City Council over the weekend that the council expected the city administration'€™s budget expenditure next year to be around Rp 58.1 trillion, 7.47 percent lower than this year'€™s Rp 63.65 trillion.

'€œSo, we hope that the realization of this budget will be efficient and transparent,'€ he said.

Rikardo said, furthermore, that his party noted that priority programs for the city administration were quite clear, especially in relation to the 2013-2017 mid-term regional development plan (RPJMD).

'€œTherefore, the executive should be able to implement programs without leaving unspent budget at the end of the year,'€ he said. For various reasons, ranging from tardy budget discussions to troubled procurement and bidding processes, budget spending in Jakarta in 2014 and 2015 was the lowest in recent years.

In 2015, the city spent Rp 43.4 trillion of a targeted Rp 72.9 trillion, representing just 59 percent budget absorption, while this year, it spent only 65 percent of its Rp 69.28 trillion budget.

Nina Lubena of the United Development Party (PPP) agreed that budget expenditure by the city administration in the last two years had been poor.

'€œBoth budget spending or provisional revenue are poor,'€ she said.

Besides budget spending, the City Council also highlighted the allocation of government investment participation (PMP) facilities to seven city-owned enterprises (BUMD), amounting to a value of Rp 7.27 trillion next year.

James Arifin Sianipar of the Nasdem Party said that BUMDs receiving the PMPs should first be expected to improve their incomes.

'€œThe revenue [of these companies] is insignificant compared to the amount of PMP [they will be given],'€ he said.

'€œThe capital injection should also adhere to laws and regulations such as Home Ministry Regulation No. 52/2012 that obliges the program to undergo an investment analysis by an independent analyst,'€ he added.

The same concern was also aired by the Gerindra Party. The Gerindra party spokesperson for the plenary meeting, Aristo Purboadji, said that the city administration had to include revenue targets as requirements for PMP recipients.

James said dividends or revenue from the city-owned companies should amount to at least twice as much as the interest taken by banks in the scheme.

'€œFor example, if a BUMD is given Rp 2 trillion in PMP, the city should be receiving at least Rp 300 billion [in revenue] per year,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Tubagus Arif said that the BUMDs allowed to receive capital injection from the city administration should be the ones demontrating good performance and capacity.
_____________________________

'€œSo, we hope that the realization of this budget will be efficient and transparent,'€